Belorussian Strategic Direction

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The Belorussian Strategic Direction was a planning construct with the Soviet General Staff from 1943 to 1944.[citation needed] This was not a field command, however, it did have a separate staff planning group within the Stavka which was created on need to have basis from officers more familiar with the needs of the operations in that direction, and the Front staffs.

Through the progress of operations by the Red Army in the European Theatre and their increased complexity, from the second half of 1943 there was an increasing reduction in the size of forces commanded by Front commanders. Coordination of several fronts within the Teatre was vested with a senior of several Front commanders, and the Belorussian Strategic Direction allowed this on the narrower front. Although it possibly briefly existed during the immediate period after the start of war in 1941[1], the strategic direction came into being in the Summer of 1943 when the Belorussian Front was divided into three. The Belorussian Strategic Direction usually comprised the three Fronts until May 1945, although on occasion other Fronts such as the 1st Baltic Front during the Rogachev-Zhlobinsk offensive operation were subordinated to it for specific operations.

3rd Belorussian Front Commanders:

2nd Belorussian Front

  • General-Colonel P.A. Kurochkin (February - April 1944)
  • General-Colonel, I.E. Petrov (April - June 1944)
  • General-Colonel, General of the Army G.F. Zakharov (July - November 1944)
  • Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky (November 1944 - June 1945)

1st Belorussian front

  • General of the Army , later Marshal K.K. Rokossovskiy (February - November 1944)
  • Marshal G.K. Zhukov (November 1944 - June 1945)

[edit] Operations

The Fronts of the Strategic Direction participated in the following operations during its existence:

[edit] Sources and references

  • Похлебкин, В.В., Великая война и несостоявшийся мир. М., 1997. cc. 202-208

Pokhlebkin, V.V., The Great War and the unmaterialised Peace. Moscow, 1997, pp.202-208 (for names of commanders only)

  • Захаров М.В. Генеральный штаб в предвоенные годы. — М.: Воениздат, 1989

Zakharov, M.V. General Staff in the pre-war years, Moscow, Voenizdat., 1989 (chapter 6)[2]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Захаров М.В. Генеральный штаб в предвоенные годы. — М.: Воениздат, 1989
  2. ^ [1] Pieniężno is situated at an altitude of 111 m on the river Wałsza (german: Walscha) in the east of Braniewo county of the Warmian-Masurian voivodeship in northern Poland.